European countries provide help with the first original submarine project in Taiwan, the island’s ministry, in the rare acceptance that sensitive programs do not get assistance solely from the United States. Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, has worked for years to change its submarine’s strength, some of which came from World War Two. This is not a match for the Chinese fleet, including a ship capable of launching nuclear weapons.
The US government in 2018 gave a green light for US manufacturers to participate in this program, a step that was widely seen as helping Taiwan secure the main components, even though the company was not clear.
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In a statement on Friday night, the Taiwan defense ministry denied a report in U.S.-based publications. National interest, which quoted Taiwan news reports from 2019, that North Korea has discussed helping Taiwan with submarines.
“In developing submarines, we have never existed, there is no now and will never have contact with North Korea; all assistance is provided by important countries in Europe and the United States,” he said, without providing details.
European countries are generally wary of allowing arms sales to Taiwan for fear of making China angry, although, in 2018, Taiwan said the government was talking to a company based in the Britain region of Gibraline about the design of a new submarine fleet. Two of the four Taiwanese active submarines were built in the Netherlands in the 1980s, even though the next country refused to sell further to the island.
France has also sold Taiwan frigate and combat jets. Taiwan said last year, and it tried to buy France’s equipment to improve the ship’s missile interference system. CSBC, a corporation supported by Taiwan State, began to build a new submarine last year, aiming to provide the first of the eight ships planned in 2025. Taiwan’sTaiwan’s defense minister said last month that the United States had approved the export of sensitive technology to equip the fleet.
